The cold is not just a temperature, it's a physical pressure, a spiritual drain that pressed down from the towering pines of the Sacred Mountain and leached warmth from bone and fur alike. We crouched low in a snow-drift, our breath pluming white against the weak, silver light of morning. Midnight Blue stood sentinel on a rocky platform, her powerful body etched against the white landscape. For the first time since leaving the Tagh Boru base, I felt the humbling simplicity of survival.
We had been tracking a small family of Siberian Ibex for a while. They were truly the masters of the vertical world. At first, I moved with agonizing slowness in my massive Wolf Form before I shifted to a normal wolf size. Asena, just ahead of me, fared little better.
Midnight Blue doesn't lead the hunt as much after she became my Divine Beast and had a duty to protect Asena. She was some kind of ancestor to them, the female alpha right now is actually her granddaughter. Most of the pack had deep dark blue fur, a trait that likely came from their expertise at the night hunt in the forest of the Sacred Mountain.
The Midnight Blue pack had ascended past the thick timberline, where the air was thin and the wind cut like shattered glass. We were near the Sacred Mountain's highest, most treacherous slopes, the terrain of icy rock and vertical drops. We spotted one young Ibex that had strayed from its small group, grazing precariously on a south-facing ledge for the brief warmth.
The pack split, using the huge rocks and icy shadows for cover. Midnight Blue positioned herself far above, a silent, dark smudge against the snow. I took the lowest approach with two seasoned wolves, while Asena and a young female were tasked with blocking the escape. I moved with my belly flat against the frozen rock, the sound of a falling pebble here could doom the entire effort.
Even as we stalked, Asena was struggling to master the pack's silent language, the subtle shifts of weight, the angle of a lowered ear, the precise intent behind a low-bellied growl. Midnight Blue dropped her head and let loose a sound that was not a howl, but a deep, rolling vibration that traveled through the frozen ground itself. It carried one raw, unambiguous message, Hunt!
The Ibex knew something was wrong. Its head snapped up, those massive, ribbed horns tilting, assessing the risk. It knew its escape route was the sheer cliff face to its right. Midnight Blue made her move and showed herself, pretending to attack and shifting her body to block the Ibex's upward path.
The Ibex, with its vertical escape denied, turned around to find another route. That's when another wolf flushed it down. This was the opening. I exploded from my cover. Then the two wolves bit its right front leg and left rear leg, stopping its movements. In that instant, I bit with terrifying speed, launching a single, final, fatal strike to the throat.
The Ibex dropped. There was a moment of silence, broken only by the whistling wind, then the pack converged. It was swift, bloody, and over. The wolves had won, not through endurance, but through total mastery of the mountain and a terrifyingly synchronized, silent plan.
This was just a first successful hunt after the Tagh Boru had provided meat to the pack a few days ago. the meat might not be enough for the whole pack, but they ate what they killed. Without including us and Midnight Blue, the pack currently has eight members and is considered an average size that covering more than a thousand square kilometers. This is how the Tagh Boru live alongside the wolves, they use their own pack to protect themselves from other wolves, while the wolves receive a small amount of food and medication from the Tribe.
Even though Asena had learned a few Songs of the Wolves and possessed an ability like "True Sight," it was still too hard for her to perceive the little details from the entire pack. Their actions seemed like a team communicating instantly through a radio, yet they were actually acting on an instinctively response to each other's movements. When she try to use her Innate Power on the pack while hunt, the only thing she can saw was the hunting image from the past memories or the imagination that they plans to do next.
I thought back to the concept of the Mobius Rune Code, which contains simple and clear emotional ideas. So, I examine the wolves' emotions. I searched for the most dominant intention and looked intensely at its core, the Rune that drove them was clearly imprinted there. This confirmed that the Mobius Rune is truly the language of the universe, and it will change everything.
I told Midnight Blue and her pack to go ahead. Before I followed, I sent the images of the basic Emotional Runes from my memory to Asena and told her to memorize their patterns and meanings.
"You need to look deeper, my daughter," I projected my thoughts to explain to Asena. "Use your 'True Sight' to look at the root of what you want to see, not just the image in their head. Look at the core meaning of it then compare it to these patterns that I've sent to you."
Asena didn't answer but sent an understanding look back to me. After we joined the pack, she seemed to integrate much better. This will simplify their thoughts and make it easier for her to read people's minds later on.
Next, we descended for miles, dropping into the shelter of the pines and the forest-steppe transition zone. The energy spent climbing was a debt now owed.
This hunt was about efficiency. The pack fanned out, their movement transforming from careful climbing into silent, low-bellied sweeps. The goal wasn't a feast, but vital calories.
A small Siberian Roe Deer weakened by the cold, the first large prey spotted. The pack worked in a rapid crescent, but it was Asena who made the critical but clumsy strike. She cut the deer off, forcing it back toward the ambush line. The pack descended in a blur, and the struggle was over in seconds.
While the adults secured the kill, Asena was tasked with locating Hares, small easy prey that hidden beneath the brush. She finally succeeded, her developing scent-work rewarding her with a meager but necessary kill. The brief meal was brutal, devoured quickly to replenish the energy spent on the climb, preparing us for the main event.
By one afternoon, we reached the boundary of the Steppe, the vast flatlands stretching out to the north. This was the territory's hunting cathedral, spanning miles across the frozen ground. The pack comes here in the winter or when the prey on the Sacred Mountain are not sufficient.
This hunt was about attrition and synchronicity. We located a herd of Wild Horses, large, fast, and constantly moving. So, I performed an experiment by secretly activating few Mobius Runes within them, increasing their physical abilities, sensory perception, and focus.
Midnight Blue didn't initiate with a charge, she began the long, silent work of testing the herd, pushing them into a steady, controlled panic. For over an hour, we ran a single disciplined organism covering what felt like ten miles. The snow was too shallow to slow the powerful horses, forcing us to rely purely on stamina to exploit any weakness.
Asena was assigned to the flank, her job to match the terrifying pace and maintain the psychological pressure on the fleeing horses. Her lungs burned, her legs ached with exhaustion, but the primal rhythm of the pack, the collective focused intent dragged her forward.
Finally, a young stallion faltered, its stride too short, its breath too ragged. Midnight Blue saw it instantly and let out the signal, a pure full-throated Song of the Wolves that was not a magic spell, but the sound of absolute unified intention. The pack broke formation, surging into the kill, the ground thundering beneath their final fatal charge.
This was the reward for the day's long trial. A successful kill that would provide sustenance for days. Asena stood panting in the steam-filled cold, her body bruised, her spirit wired. She hadn't just hunted, she had lived the pack's full existence.
We roamed around for a while before traveling back to our den at the Sacred Mountain. The Tagh Boru fed the pack and closely checked their health. That is why we call ourselves brothers and sisters, we truly are one big family.
After the runes experiment with the wolves, I had an idea for a new kind of magic that can incorporate to many techniques. Techniques like Shadow Cloak, Shadow Step and Whispering Tongues are actually specific magical techniques developed by Erik and Cynthia. The two Shadow Techniques needed Erik's energy to fully use them, while Whispering Tongues is just a manipulation technique that anyone can use. But this new Runic Art only activates the power that is already there, which basically requires near-zero energy consumption and can be added to support other techniques.
I decided to use the term Rune to describe these energetic Mobius patterns because they contain meaning, and some Runes had much more meaning than others. They might look totally different from some points of view, but they are actually the same Rune that contains slightly different values.
Especially for the Rune of Drive, an empty form of various emotional variations. This Rune is the primary value that drives most living things and Spiritual Beings, while serving as the State Variable for Spiritual AI. Not only that, but when these Runes combine together, the complexity rises exponentially for all advanced functions, from sophisticated calculation and reasoning to problem-solving and decision-making.
This vast variety and complexity of Runes and Syntaxes makes this language too hard to fully teach the whole system to someone who lacks sufficient knowledge. They also need the ability to control energy like Theoenergetics or in my case, a power to control my own energy by my design, just to weave these Mobius Rune patterns. Technically, anyone with a Personal Space can make the Runes from their energy inside it too, but to freshly weave and use the Runes outside, you need the right ability.
Therefore, we need a simplified version and a medium to use this language easily. At the hunt, I wove each Mobius Runes inside them one by one, increasing the effects on every wolf in the pack. Luckily, they are partly connected to me through their ancestor, Midnight Blue. I had an idea of combining these Runes into an Inner-Centric Syntax that let them boost their own ability by themselves.
Then I started by weaving this Boosting Syntax from the Runes and imprinting its patterns into bodies and memories of Midnight Blue and Asena. Before I told them to think about it immensely, concentrate on the shape, size, color, and structure of it, how it makes them feel, how they feel about it, and that is when they activated the Syntax within themselves.
The Spiritual Beings have control over their own energy to a certain level, and that allows them to use these Syntaxes. Even though some Syntaxes might lead to the uncontrollable destruction but if they are in my network, I can forbid them from using those kinds of Syntaxes. This is what I was looking for, simple abilities that no one will notice. I think the Tagh Boru had some concept of sacred blessing called Qut, which can serve as a perfect cover for my Runic Art.
After a few adjustments, I combined the Rune of Bond and Rune of Unity into a new Syntax that will create a temporary communication link with other Syntax bearers by using my network, allowing Mortal Beings to have temporary telepathy. Then I wove the Telepathy Syntax, the Regeneration Syntax, and the Boosting Syntax together and made them into a rhythm of Warcry for the pack. In the hunt, the leader can instantly activate all these Syntaxes for the whole pack.
For the Tagh Boru, I planned to use tribal Tamga as a medium, while using ancient Oracle Bone Script for the Chinese. We can use these symbols to connect to the meaning of the Syntaxes. With this, we can make these Mobius Syntaxes into a form of magic by use spells, chants, songs, amulets, charms or talismans.
I suspected Huang Yi's anti-material shot is also related to some kind of Deconstruction Syntax, and that's what I fear most. This kind of command can lead to the catastrophic destruction of the universe if it's not diligently coded, black holes might appear out of nowhere!